A Goddess a Day

Amber Dorrian, Seth Auberon, TEAM BHUMI DEVA, Wisdom Quarterly; GoddessADay.org

Amatheia (pronounced ah-ma-THEE-uh) is an ancient Greek devi -- a daughter of Nereus, one of the goddesses of the sea or Nereids. "God and goddesses"? In Buddhist terms these are terrestrial and celestial (space) devas. They are born of Doris, an Okeanid. Sea nymphs are water elementals who care for bodies of water, the ocean, and its inhabitants. Ancients explained water-related phenomena and its functions as the activity of these powerful entities. Amathea (“nourisher”) was thought of as the devi or mermaid who looked after the development of young fishes (various species of fish).

 

Goddess of Mercy (elfwood)

Are there Buddhist goddesses? There are! The most famous is the bodhisattva of compassion Kwan Yin, often shown as a sea goddess riding a sea serpent (naga). The imagery symbolizes the power of compassion to soothe and smooth out samsara, frequently depicted as a flood, deluge, or ocean to cross over. Wisdom, a goddess called Prajna Paramita ("Perfection of Wisdom") or Khema (the Buddha's chief nun disciple "foremost in wisdom"), transcends samsara. 
 

Other "Buddhist goddesses" may not be devas at all but simply famous women honored with the title devi (queen, ruler, or stunning beauty): Taras (Buddhist Goddesses of India), Tibetan deities, Dharma guardians, particularly those from the realm of the Four Great Sky Rulers of the quadrants, Ven. Uppalavanna Theri (a Buddhist Lakshmi/Saraswati), princesses and female warriors of non-human tribes, Bhumi (Mother Earth), who saved Siddhartha when he outdid Mara the killer and obstacle to enlightenment.

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The "Wee People" (Earth devas)

School of Spiritual Integrity (elysiumgates.com); TEAM BHUMI DEVA, Wisdom Quarterly

devi (anaan.wordpress.com)

  
Whether it is the Leprechauns of Ireland, Bhumi-Devas of Buddhist-India, Menehune of Hawaii, Gnomes of Germany, or Pixies of England, all cultures have traditions and tales of wonder about races of beings co-existing with humanity.

Natural habitat (ayuda.wordpress.com)

These beings are so diminutive [or able to shape-shift] and furtive in their actions that very few people actually get to see them.

For centuries, stories have been the way one generation teaches the next certain truths. So why would cultures around the world tell similar stories? What are they really trying to teach?

Biologists have confirmed that plants react to stimuli and communicate, that they are aware of sentient beings around them, that they feel. Physicists have recently discovered that even the smallest of small particles makes choices and therefore can be said to possess some form of consciousness [awareness]. Cultures around the world prior to the "rationalist" era we are now living in believed that everything in the world had sentience (the capacity to feel): earth (rocks), water, air, fire, plants, animals… everything. Furthermore, all things have the ability to communicate and affect one another. Ecologists are currently struggling to teach modern humanity the same ideas.
 

Frightening "Guardian of the Dharma" (Bighead4144/flickr.com)

 

This is what the stories of “wee people” in all cultures were designed to teach. It is difficult for the average person to understand or believe that a rock can talk or otherwise communicate. But if one is taught that there are gnomes that live deep in the mountains who mine and protect their precious ores, one might think twice before indiscriminately pillaging a mountain of its mineral riches.  And if one were sensitive and actually did hear or otherwise sense communication from a rock, that person would not be frightened to believe that it was a gnome.
 

Undine or water-elemental (realmagick.com)

The Celts have a diverse tradition of wee people: leprechauns, fairies, sylphs, undines, salamanders, elves… all with an involved lineage, history, and even human dimensions. If one looks pragmatically at the stories of leprechauns and fairies, one can learn a great deal about life on Earth. The beings in these stories always live in nature, and they leave an area when humans populate it, build cities (replace nature), and destroy the natural surroundings. The teaching here is obvious: We need to build incorporating nature rather than paving over it. The unseen beings disappear when we create our modern form of community. We can’t interact with them, for they are no longer present, and we are lessened by the loss of the connection.

 

Leprechauns teach a humorous tale. The stories are all about gold, greed, and how when humans grasp material things, they find it transformed into "fairy dust." Material things are transient. Nature teaches that constantly through the seasons. Trying to hold on by force puts natural cycles out of balance. [This is the very definition of dukkha, or "suffering/disappointment" which can be understood as life off-center, off-kilter, misaligned]. When things are out of balance, as with a cartwheel, nothing runs smoothly.  When we translate this lesson into stories, we see that those who are able to gain, through trickery, the leprechaun’s gold, have a miserable future. More

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When Mother Earth saved Siddhartha

TEAM BHUMI DEVA, Wisdom Quarterly, COUNTDOWN CLOCK: -3

(Magical-mushroomz/tumblr.com)

"It will be a long time before the brain knows in detail what the body already perfectly understands."

- (Susan Lowenberg, L.A. Theatre Works, 4-22-12)

(FYN) Tree devi watches Of Monsters and Men (OMAM), Lollapalooza 2012 (Minute 29:19).
 

Siddhartha calling (vam.ac.uk)

Bhumi is the Earth personified. She is Mother Nature, Gaia, Sthavara (immovable like the ground, solidity, support).

BODH GAYA, India - When Siddhartha was striving to discover the path to enlightenment and final liberation, a killer came to him and told him to move: "The place you're sitting in meditation belongs to me," that killer said. "Who or what gives you the right to sit there?" Siddhartha reached out his right hand and called on the Earth to witness (Bhūmiśparṣa mudrā) for his right to pursue enlightenment in a forest grove under the tree of wisdom. The Earth shook. And the ogres, confused, ran away.

"You're gone, gone, gone away. I watched you disappear. All that's left is a ghost of you. Now we're torn, torn, torn apart. There's nothing we can do. Just let me go; we'll meet again soon. Now wait, wait, wait for me. Please hang around. I'll see you when I fall asleep. Hey! Don't listen to a word I say. Hey! The screams all sound the same. Hey! Though the truth may vary, this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore..." More 
 
Invitation to the Devas
Wisdom Quarterly translation (Namakara-siddhi Gatha)

Devi sylph (megamitensei.wikia.com)

From around the galaxies may the devas come.
May they listen to the true teaching of the supreme sage,
Which leads to higher-births and nirvana.

Those on planes of sensuality or fine-form,
On mountain peaks and precipices, in palaces floating in space,
On islands, in countries, and towns,
In groves of trees and thickets, around homes and fields.

Earthbound "angels" (Boticelli's Venus)

And the earth (bhumi)-devas, sylphs, messenger minstrels, and powerful creatures
In water, on the ground, in the wilderness, and nearby:
May they come and listen approvingly
As I recite the word of the excellent sage.

This is the time to listen to the Dharma, venerable ones.
This is the time to listen to the Dharma, venerable ones. 
This is the time to listen to the Dharma, venerable ones.

Asian conception of the beautiful angelic beings from space (tribudragonthai)

 

Do not look long, do not look short.

In the seen, let there be only the seen

In the heard, only the heard

In the otherwise sensed, only the otherwise sensed.

When for you there is just this,

there will be neither here, nor there,

nor going from one to the other.

-The Buddha said to Bahiya of the Bark Cloth (Fast Enlightenment)

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Protection from "Bad Spirits" (sutra)

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly translation based on Ven. Piyadasi (Atanatiya Sutra, DN 32)

(Mitjoruohoniemi/flickr.com)

 

Space beings, akasha devas (Jasspierxia/flickr.com)

VULTURES PEAK, India - Once upon a time the Buddha was living on Vulture's Peak near Rajgir. The Four Space Kings -- having guarded the four quarters with a large army of ogres (yakkhas), fairies (gandhabbas), gnomes (kumbhandas), and dragons (nagas) and having placed troops and a barricade of soldiers set up on all four sides -- came to the presence of the Buddha when the night was far advanced.

  

Illuminating the entire peak with their surpassing radiance, they saluted him and respectfully sat to one side. From among the (attendant) ogres, some saluted and sat to one side; some exchanged greetings with the Buddha, conversing in a friendly and courteous manner, then sat to one side; some saluted him with clasped hands then sat to one side; some announced their name and lineage then sat to one side; some simply sat to one side in silence.
 
Then the great sky King Vessavana (Sanskrit, Vaisravana), while seated to one side, said to the Buddha:

  

The text's most famous yakkha, Alavaka

"Venerable sir, there are eminent ogres who are not pleased with the Blessed One; there are also eminent ogres pleased with the Blessed One. There are ogres of middle rank who are not pleased with the Blessed One, and there are those who are pleased with the Blessed One. There are ogres of inferior rank who are not pleased with the Blessed One, and there are those who are pleased with the Blessed One. Venerable sir, the ogres as a rule are not pleased with the Blessed One. What is the reason for this?"

  

"Well, the Blessed One teaches the Dharma to establish beings in abstaining from 

1. killing
2. stealing
3. sexual misconduct
4. false speech
5. intoxicants that occasion negligence. 

"To them such a teaching is unpleasant and unpalatable."

  

"Surely, venerable sir, there are disciples of the Blessed One. They frequent the remote recesses of forests. There in woodland wildernesses there is no sound, no tumult, where breezes are void of human contact suitable for physical and mental seclusion and quiet contemplation. But there are eminent ogres (yakkhas) who haunt these forests, who have no confidence in the word of the Blessed One.

  

"Venerable sir, may the Blessed One learn the Atanata protection [the name of a town, according to the commentary (Dighanikaya-attakatha-tika, vol iii, p. 194), where King Vessavana and the other sky rulers assembled and recited this protection, which speaks of the virtues of seven Buddhas: Vipassi, Sikhi, Vessabhu, Kakusanda, Konagama, Kassapa, and Gotama] so that the displeased ogres may be pleased, so that the monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen, may be at ease, guarded, protected, and unharmed."
  

Buddha, Thiksey, Ladakh (Hitlersmiles/flickr.com)

The Blessed One gave consent by his silence. Then the great sky King Vessavana, knowing that the Blessed One had consented, recited the Atanatiya protection:
  
Reverence to Seven Buddhas

1. "Homage to Vipassi Buddha possessed of the eye [of wisdom] and splendor. Homage to Sikhi Buddha compassionate towards all beings.

2. "Homage to Vessabhu Buddha free from all defilements and possessed of ascetic energy. Homage to Kakusanda Buddha, the conqueror of [the fivefold] army of Mara.

3. "Homage to Konagamana (the Buddha) who has shed all defilements and had lived the holy life. Homage to Kassapa Buddha who is fully freed from all defilements.

4. "Homage to Angirasa Buddha, the son of the Shakyas, who is full of radiance and who proclaimed the Dharma that dispels all suffering.

5. "Those in the world, who have extinguished (the flames of passion) and have perceived through meditative insight things as they really are, they never slander anyone; they are mighty ones who are free from fear.

6. "Gotama (Gautama) Buddha, dear to devas and men, endowed with knowledge and virtue, mighty and fearless, all do homage to him.
  

7-8. "When the resplendent sun -- offspring of Aditi with its full orb -- arises, then night ceases, and it is called day. From the direction the sun rises (east) there exists the ocean deep and vast.

9. "This spreading sheet of water they know as the ocean [possibly space]. Where there is east (east of Mount Sumeru) they say that quarter is east. [The great sky kings each guard a quarter of the sky/space.]

10. "Guardian of this quarter is the great sky king named Dhatarattha who has a retinue of attendants, and is sovereign lord of the fairies (gandhabbas).

11. "Attended by these angelic beings he enjoys their song and dance. Many are his (Datharatta's) offspring, all of one name, so have I heard.

12-13. "Eighty and ten and one are they, Inda their name, and mighty are they. They too, beholding the Buddha -- Kinsman of the Sun, mighty and fearless -- salute him from afar: "Homage and glory to that one unique and noblest among humans."

14-15. "With sublime wisdom, you have looked on humankind with a knowing eye so that even non-humans pay reverence. This we have often heard. Therefore, we request the ogres (yakkhas) to pay homage to Gotama Buddha, the Conqueror. They too say: 'We pay reverence to Gotama, the Conqueror; we pay reverence to Gotama who is endowed with knowledge and virtue.'"
  

16-18. "The direction from where the ghosts (petas, subtle-body spirits of the dead), backbiters, murderers, fierce brigands, and the deceitful are removed is the direction (to the right of Mount Sumeru) called the south. The custodian of this quarter is the great sky king named Virulha, who has a retinue of attendants. He is the sovereign lord of gnomes (kumbhandas). Attended by the them he enjoys their song and dance.

19. "Many are his offspring, all of one name, so have I heard. Eighty and ten and one are they, Inda their names, and mighty are they.

20. "They too, beholding the Buddha -- Kinsman of the Sun, mighty and fearless -- salute him from afar: 'Homage and glory to you who are unique and highest among humans.'
  

21-22. "By your sublime wisdom you have looked on humankind with a knowing eye so that even non-humans pay you reverence. This we have often heard. Therefore, we request the ogres to pay homage to Gotama Buddha, the Conqueror. They too say: 'We pay reverence to Gotama, the Conqueror; we pay reverence to Gotama who is endowed with knowledge and virtue.'
  

23-24. "When the resplendent sun -- offspring of Aditi with its full orb -- sets, the day ceases, and it is called night. In the direction where the sun sets (the west) there exists the ocean deep and vast.

25. "This spreading sheet of water they know as the ocean (and space). West (of Mount Sumeru) they call the western quarter.

26. "Guardian of this quarter is a great sky king named Virupakkha, who has a retinue of attendants, and is sovereign lord of the dragons (nagas).

27. "Attended by dragons he enjoys their song and dance. Many are his offspring, all of one name, so have I heard.

28-29. "Eighty and ten and one are they, Inda their name, and mighty are they. They too, beholding the Buddha -- Kinsman of the Sun, mighty and fearless -- salute him from afar: 'Homage and glory to you, unique and noblest among humankind.'

30-31. "By your sublime wisdom you have looked on humankind with a knowing eye so that even non-humans pay you reverence. This we have often heard. Therefore we request the ogres to pay homage to Gotama, Buddha the Conqueror. They too say: 'We pay reverence to Gotama, the Conqueror; we pay reverence to Gotama who is endowed with knowledge and virtue.'

32. "In delightful Uttarakuru (north), where towers beautiful Mount Sumeru, there are born humans who are selfless and unattached.

33. "They neither sow seed nor use the plow. Spontaneously grown grain is there for them to enjoy.

34. "The rice, purged of the red powder and of husk, clean and sweet-scented, is boiled in golden vessels; it is this that they partake of.

35. "They make of cows a single-seated mount and ride about from place to place.

36-37. "They make use of women and men, girls and boys as vehicles, and travel from place to place in them.

38. "Mounting vehicles (craft or elephants and horses) they (the ogres under King Vessavana) travel in every direction.

39. "This king who has a retinue of attendants is possessed of elephants and horses on which he rides. He also has celestial chariots [flying craft, vimanas], palaces [larger ships], and palanquins [platforms]. He has cities well built in celestial regions.
  

"These cities are named Atanata, Kusinata, Parakusinata, Natapuriya, and Parakusitanata. To the north, the city of Kapilavata, to the South Janogha, and cities named Navanavati, Ambara-ambaravati, and the kingdom of Alakamanda.

(Addressing the Buddha:) "Happy one, this Kuvera [another name for Vessavana] has a kingdom named Visna. Therefore, the great sky king Kuvera is called Vessavana. There are ogres under this king who hold investigations and make them known. They are Tatola, Tattala, Tatotala, Ojasi, Tejasi, Tatojasi, Suro, Raja (Sura-raja) Arittho, and Nemi (Arittha-nemi). There (in Visana kingdom) lies the lake Dharani where rain-clouds (drawing water) pour them forth. There is also a hall named Bhagalavati where the ogres assemble.

40. "There (around the hall) are trees bearing perpetual fruit. (On these trees) there are multitudes of birds. There also is heard the cry of peacocks and herons and the melodious song of kokilas (the Indian cuckoo).

41. "There (near the lake) the cry of the birds that call out 'Live! Live!' (jivamjivaka) is heard. The bird Otthavacittaka ('O lift your hearts!'), the jungle fowl, the crabs, and the Pokkharasataka birds roam the woods.

42. "There the cry of the parrot, the myna-birds, and the Dandamanavaka birds is heard. And Kuvera's lotus-lake is beautiful through all seasons.

43-44. "That direction (north of Mount Sumeru) is called by people the northern quarter. The guardian of this quarter is a great sky king named Kuvera who has a retinue of attendants. He is the sovereign lord of the ogres. Attended by them he enjoys their songs and dance.

45. "Many are his offspring, all of one name, so have I heard. Eighty and ten and one are they, Inda their names, and mighty are they.

46. "They too -- beholding the Buddha, Kinsman of the Sun, mighty and fearless -- salute him from afar: 'Homage to you unique and noblest among humankind!'
   

47-48. "By your sublime wisdom you have looked on humankind) so that even non-humans pay you reverence. Thus have we heard. Therefore, we request the ogres to pay homage to Gotama Buddha, the Conqueror. They, too, say, 'We pay reverence to Gotama, the Conqueror; we pay reverence to Gotama who is endowed with knowledge and virtue.'

"Happy One, this is the Atanata protection whereby both monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen may live at ease, guarded, protected, and unharmed.
  

"If any monk or nun, layman or laywoman learns by heart this Atanata protection and is word-perfect in repeating it, and if any non-human

• male or female ogre, youth or maiden ogre, ogre minister, or any ogre, or ogre attendant; 
• male or female fairy...
• male or female gnome...
• male or female dragon... 

"were to walk with him or her, or stand or sit or lie down with him or her with malevolent intent, such a non-human, Happy One, will not obtain hospitality from any town or township, will not obtain a place to dwell, nor live in the Kingdom of Alakamanda. 

  

"Such a one will not be able to attend the meetings of the ogres and furthermore would not be accepted or given in marriage, but instead would be reproached (by casting remarks on his deformed teeth or eyes or any part of the body), and the non-humans would put an empty bowl over such a one's head and split it in seven pieces. [The "splitting of a head into seven pieces" was a common saying in ancient India. It seems to mean that it would be "an unbearable situation."]

 

"Happy One, there are non-humans who are fierce, violent, given to retaliation; those non-humans heed neither the (four) great sky kings nor their ministers nor their attendants. They are called rebels against the (four) great sky kings.
  
"Even as in the kingdom of Magadha [where the Buddha resided], the thieves heed neither the king of Magadha, nor the ministers, nor their attendants, but are called rebels against the king of Magadha, so there are non-humans who are fierce... They are called rebels against the (four) great sky kings.
  

"Happy One, if any non-human -- male or female ogre... fairy... gnome... dragon... were to walk with a monk or nun, or a layman or laywoman, or stand, or sit, or lie down with him or her with malevolent intent, then should (the molested individual) inform, cry aloud, and shout to those ogres, to the mighty ogres, their commanders and chief commanders saying: 'This ogre is seizing me, is taking possession of me, is harassing me, is assailing me, is harming me, harming me intensely and will not let me go!' [then something will be done but] who are the ogres, mighty ogres and commanders, and chief commanders (to whom such appeal should be made)?

49. "Inda, Soma, and Varuna, Bharadvaja, Pajapati, Candana, Kamasettha too, Kinnughandu, Nigahandu,

50. Panada, Opamanna too, Devasata and Matali, Cittasena and Gandhabba, Nala, Raja, Janesabha,

51. Satagira, Hemavata, Punnaka, Karatiya, Gula, Sivaka, Mucalinda too, Vessamitta, Yugandhara,

52. Gopala, Suppagedha too, Hiri, Netti, and Mandiya, Pañcalacanda, Alavaka, Pajjunna, Sumana, Sumukha, Dadamukkha, and along with these Serisakka.
  
"These are the ogres, mighty ogres, the commanders, the chief commanders to whom (the molested person should inform, cry aloud, and shout saying: 'This ogre is seizing me, is taking possession of me, is harassing me, is assailing me, is harming me, and harming me intensely, and this ogre will not let me go!'
  

"This, Happy One, is the Atanata protection whereby monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen may live at ease, guarded, protected, and unharmed.

"Happy One, we now take our leave of you; for we have many duties to attend to" (so said the four great sky kings)."
  

"Great sky kings, it is time for your departure" (replied the Buddha).
  

The four great sky kings arose from their seats and saluting the Buddha respectfully circled around (circumambulated) him staying to his right side, and there and then they vanished. From among the (attendant) ogres some arose from their seats and saluted the Buddha, circled around him on his right side, and there and then they vanished; some exchanged greetings with the Buddha conversing in a friendly and courteous manner, and there and then they vanished; some saluted the Buddha with clasped hands, and there and then they vanished; some announced their name and lineage and there and then vanished; some in silence there and then vanished.
  

The Buddha (bezen.wordpress.com)

When the night had passed the Buddha addressed the monks residing with him: (The Buddha related word for word what King Vessavana said).
  
"Monastics, learn by heart the Atanata protection, and constantly make use of it, bearing it in mind. This Atanata protection pertains to your welfare, and by virtue of it monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen may live at ease, guarded, protected, and unharmed."
  

This is what the Buddha said. Those monks glad at heart rejoiced at the words of the Buddha.

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A Poem and A Passage

James: I'll start with a lovely poem that I've seen on the lastest Macy's commercial:

The Earth has come to life today. Spring is here, horray, horray. The flowers are happy. They wave delight. The sun shines bright with all her might. So fly little fairy, fly, fly, fly. Fly through the meadow & touch the sky. When you get to where your going, Remember this day. The day the Earth came out to play.

James: The following are some excerpts from the book, Buddhism is Now What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs regarding rebirth and reincarnation. There is some confusion in Buddhism over these two different concepts:

One common understanding of Buddhism is that it involves reincarnation. But if we go back to the original insights of the Buddha, we don't find this teaching. What the Buddha taught was rebirth, not reincarnation. Though they are often confused, they are not the same at all. And we sometimes come up with thoughts of reincarnation: "I'll come back as someone else." Sometimes these notions are coupled with the idea that if we're good, we can come back in more fortunate circumstances. What all of these concepts have in common is that they suppose some enduring entity--incarnate, here and now--that persists and, after it dies, disintegrates, only to reemerge as something else again. But there's a problem here. If it becomes something else, then in what way is it the same? How is it still, in some manner, what it used to be? And if it's not, then how is this reincarnation? Indeed, what does the term it even refer to?

Here is what many people miss (or ignore) about the Buddhadharma: the Buddha himself pointed out that this view is inaccurate and extreme. It's called the eternalistic view--but the awakened see directly that permanence is never found, that the eternalistic view simply doesn't hold up. As the great thirteenth-century Japanese Zen teacher Dogen Zenji said, "Just as firewood does not revert to firewood once it burns to ash, so a person does not return to life after death." The fact is, within this one life span, as we live from moment to moment to moment, we are never a particular, unchanging person. You are not the same person you were ten or twenty years ago. In fact, you're not the same person you were ten or twenty minutes ago. Nothing persists. Nothing repeats. Nothing returns. Each moment is fresh, new, unique--impermanent. There is no way to hold a view of reincarnation without holding a view of permanence.

This moment has been born again and again, innumerable times while you've read this chapter. Learning to see this, and not the recycling of souls, is the liberation the Buddha pointed to.

James: The other extreme wrong view is that of nihilism. That we die and we are snuffed out but this is false thinking because there is nothing to "snuff out." Believing that we cease to "be" is Wrong View because it presupposes a belief in materialism. That there is something that can be "born" out of nothing into something and back to nothing it returns. It is a view that acknowledges pain, suffering and death that comes with life but then says that a "person" ceases to exist forever. Meaning that death or non-existence is permanent. "Things" can not be permanent and impermanent at the same time.

Just wanted to point out the other side of the issue.

~Peace to all beings~

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